A day or so after Sonia Sotomayor’s biography, “My Beloved World” was released, I got a call from a New York Times reporter asking me how well the book would sell. She jumped in to the first question: “Why don’t Latinos read?”

When people my age look back on their college days, they often recall being “starving” students. But, back in a time when it was possible to complete a university education with some scholarships, a modest student loan and a part-time job, few of my peers were ever truly hungry.

Before 11-month-old Charlie Gard died in Britain last week from complications of a rare disease, his short life triggered debate about when it’s appropriate to stop treating patients and allow them to die.

News headlines are screaming about how fearful Latinos are due to moves the Trump administration is making toward stepping up deportations. These are valid concerns for many Hispanics, a majority of whom have acquaintances or family members who could be at risk.

I’ve given birth to three babies, shattered my wrist, broken my tailbone twice, gotten tattooed, and, once, when I was suspected of having contracted West Nile Virus, had two consecutive spinal taps (one failed) in the name of advancing medical students’ knowledge while securing a diagnosis.

A recent survey on the public’s view of national institutions elicited headlines that suggested a tale of backwardness and ignorance. One example: “Majority of Republicans Think Higher Education is Bad for America.”

The concept of “executive function” was popularized by social science research showing that young children who can control their impulses, pay attention, remember details, manage their time and plan are more likely to be successful in school.

Two years ago, anxiety was keeping me up at night, threatening to spiral out of control. Meanwhile, my husband with his easy confidence -- never seeing a raincloud without a silver lining, always constructing the best possible scenario when confronted with a set of hazy details -- slept like a baby. I decided I wanted that kind of peace in my life.

It comes to you courtesy of a new Food Network explainer video titled “Taco Cones are the New Tacos” in which a young Asian-American woman demonstrates how to “eat two tacos at the same time” by baking tortillas into an ice cream cone shape, filling them with ground beef and adding toppings.

My brother-in-law, a volunteer constable in a small Arkansas town, once said that the answer to the tensions and violence between motorists of color and the police was for law enforcement to treat those they are sworn to protect with respect and politeness.

When “The Bell Curve” by Charles A. Murray and Richard Herrnstein was published in 1994, I was a junior in college and didn’t know anything about the book except that it had my white literature professors in an uproar. A few of them inveighed against the book’s premise -- the very notion of intelligence as something people possess in varying degrees -- and then the whole controversy eventually died out.

Last week, I packed my husband and two sons off to enjoy their much-anticipated viewing of the new superhero movie “Wonder Woman.”

I used to partake in such outings to the summer action blockbuster, but by the time “Wonder Woman” came out, I was already sick and tired of being browbeaten by countless feminine-power “hot takes” and “think pieces,” plus the inevitable reports of outrage.